The case centred around whether HMRC could retain the documents, with the club arguing that all the material should be returned.

The High Court ruled that HMRC could retain the documents as it was still pursuing a civil investigation into the Club’s tax affairs and did not have to return the records to Newcastle United.

In 2014, HMRC had launched an investigation into Newcastle United over tax on agents’ fees under Code of Practice 8, claiming that the football club owed £2,034,802 in VAT and £4,250,714.01 in Class 1 National Insurance contributions.

In 2017 HMRC raided the club with a search warrant and substantial amounts of potential evidence were seized in both physical and digital forms.